Will 50 Cent Pull ‘Power’ Off Starz?

50 Cent is not happy, and frankly, he’s got reason to be unhappy. Starz has not yet renewed Power Book IV: Force for a second season, despite the show breaking network ratings records left and right. As a result, hip hop mogul 50 Cent, who is one of the Executive Producers of Force, is threatening to take the Power universe off Starz, declaring the show is sitting “in limbo.” Is a bidding war about to commence?

The Power executive producer shared his frustration in a string of Instagram posts Tuesday.

He began with a video of a man shoving items into a suitcase and included the caption: “This is me packing my stuff, STARZ sucks, my deal is up over here I’m out. They renewed ‘Hightown’ and ‘Force’ is the highest rated show [but] they have it sitting in limbo. If I told you how much dumb s— I deal with over here.”

Here is the full sequence of Instagram posts…

50 Cent shared more photos of suitcases and in a second post wrote: “Hold my calls I’m traveling, getting the fvck away from STARZ.”

Force star and Chicago native Joseph Sikora, who plays fan favorite Tommy Egan, replied to one of the posts with “Oh boy!”

Is A Bidding War Underway?

50 Cent tweeted earlier this afternoon, suggesting that a bidding war for the Power universe was breaking out this week. Could Power and its Power Book IV: Force spinoff be heading to a new network in the weeks ahead? We will all know soon enough, but for now, here is the latest tweet from 50 Cent:

Why Hasn’t Force Been Renewed?

That’s the question, and sources close to the show tell SCREEN they don’t have a clear answer. They also are telling SCREEN that if renewed, the second season of Force would likely begin shooting in Chicago as early as May, so there is definite reason for Starz to make a decision sooner than later.

Following the debut of the show, it was considered just a matter of time before the renewal was announced, expected within days of the premiere. The Sunday, February 6th debut of Power Book IV: Force posted the biggest series premiere audience for any show in Starz history. Centered on the character of “Tommy Egan” from the original Power series, the third spinoff in the franchise had a first-night audience bigger than Showtime’s Dexter: New Blood and HBO’s The White Lotus. But with Episode Five set to premiere this Sunday, the status of the show is still in doubt.

As 50 Cent mentioned, Hightown was renewed by Starz on Tuesday for a third season. The crime series stars former Chicago Fire star Monica Raymund as a National Marine Fisheries Service agent trying to get sober.

Be sure to check back here at SCREEN Magazine for news on Power Book IV: Force, from previews of upcoming Season One episodes to the latest on what we hope will be Season Two. You can also click right here to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter.

Photo Credit: 50 Cent Photo by Keith Hinkle is licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0 License.